Nordstrom, the retailer widely known for its excellent customer service, recently caused a ruckus among some of its credit card holders by terminating access to their accounts by Mint.com, the online money-management site.
Mint allows users to track multiple financial accounts, including bank and credit card accounts, in one place. To do so, users register at Mint and enter account information and passwords, so the program can obtain the information electronically and aggregate it. (Mint.com was acquired by the financial software company Intuit in 2009.)
On Twitter, various Nordstrom cardholders voiced dismay, after the retailer notified them of the change, which took effect Nov. 15. “So disappointed @Nordstrom has decided to end @Mint account access. Not a great move,” said one tweet.
Nordstrom, which issues store-brand cards through its own Nordstrom Bank, isn’t the only retail-branded card that doesn’t let cardholders participate in Mint. Accounts for store cards issued by GE Capital’s retail bank, including Amazon.com, Brooks Brothers and Gap, can’t be accessed by Mint, either.
GE Capital cited security concerns. “We have established a core set of requirements before permitting cardholder participation in aggregator services via the GE Capital Retail Bank system and are actively working through those requirements with the aggregators and conducting comprehensive evaluations,” said Dori Abel, a spokeswoman, in an e-mail. “Our primary concern is ensuring the safety and security of our customers’ personal information, and all of our actions are being taken with this objective in mind.”
Mint, which has about 10 million users, says it uses bank-level security. Also, users can only view and sort information about their accounts; they can’t move money in or out of accounts via Mint.
Nordstrom’s explanation of its move was a bit vague. The store’s notice to customers said Nordstrom will “explore a variety of options for online financial management services.” Meantime, it said, customers can manage their account online at nordstromcard.com.
Tara Darrow, a spokeswoman, repeated that Nordstrom is “exploring other options” and declined to say how many Nordstrom cardholders use Mint. She initially said Nordstrom had been paying for the service on its customers’ behalf, but later elaborated in an e-mail that she was referring to “vendor costs associated with providing the service. We can’t provide specific details (they are proprietary).”
Martha Shaughnessy, a Mint spokeswoman, said there was no cost to account holders, or to card issuers and banks, for using Mint.com. She said the site earned revenue from referral fees for various financial products pitched to users — for instance, by suggesting a credit card that can help a frequent traveler maximize travel rewards. If the customer applies for the card, Mint makes a commission.
Ms. Shaughnessy said GE Capital and Nordstrom were the only companies known to block Mint.
The card companies’ moves sound a bit like tactics used recently by some big airlines to block outside Web-based sites from gathering frequent-flier information, so travelers can track all their mileage information in one place.
Do you use Mint? Are there any accounts you would like to access with it but can’t?
Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/nordstrom-and-ge-capital-block-mint-com-users/?partner=rss&emc=rss